New Delhi: India and Pakistan had a contrasting days in their history of Test cricket on Saturday. On one side there was jubilance and display of grit and determination, the other passage saw an Asian powerhouse getting distraught with its tactics applied recently to make an attempt to save the series.
While Pakistan defeated England by nine wickets to win the decisive Test in Rawalpindi to script a come-from-a-behind 2-1 win, India snuffed before New Zealand to see the end of their dominant run in the red-ball format at home after a crushing 113-run defeat in Pune. The identical thing in both these matches was that they were wrapped inside three days. India is yet to play the third Test match in Mumbai (November 1-5)
Both India and Pakistan faced the heat after going down in the opening game of their respective series, and the two Asian rivals made major amendments with the tactics and squads in a bid to see a potential turnaround. Pakistan went ahead with the bold call of dropping some of their star players such as Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah to rope in spinners in their squad for the last two Tests.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to use the same pitch used in the first Test in Multan for the second match as well with a turner track was the ultimate solution. Six patio heaters, two industrial fans and two giant windbreaks were used by PCB to transform the flat pitch into a turner.
It paid rich dividends as Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, the two spinners brought back into Pakistan’s playing XI, snared 39 of 40 England wickets in the last two matches, extending the batting woes the Ben Stokes-led side struggles against. It was evident that England weren’t comfortable against absolute turners where the ball drifted immensely after they suffered a 4-1 defeat in India earlier this year.
The thing that worked in Pakistan’s favour was that their batters managed to play and struck partnerships when England confronted them with a similar challenge, particularly fielding three frontline spinners in Rawalpindi with the addition of Rehan Ahmed.
Saud Shakeel showed proficiency while tackling the spin challenge as he scored a match-defining century (134) to help Pakistan gain a sizeable lead of 77 runs. Noman (6 for 42) and Sajid (4 for 69) astutely spun the web around to foil the Englishmen from posing a massive target. All the spin duo did was set the hosts for a measly 36-run target, which was chased in 19 balls only.
Indian batters fail to outsmart New Zealand on turning track
India wanted to keep the New Zealand seamers out of the contest after Matt Henry and William O’Rourke destroyed their batting line-up, reducing them to their lowest Test score (46) on home in Bengaluru. To counter the challenge, the rank-turner was prepared in Gahunje to avoid a series defeat.
An unwavering New Zealand, apparently, were ready to face any threat imposed on them and test their players’ skills. A concerted effort was made to try and play the unconventional shots such as sweeps and reverse sweeps to keep the Indian spinners at bay. It worked with the aptitude of some of the players best known to play such shots on a regular basis.
New Zealand scored 87 runs off 67 balls with the usage of sweep shots (both ways) across the two innings in the Pune Test while losing just two wickets. Devon Conway was the proponent seen deploying the highly-calculated risk to earn rewards. The southpaw was unfazed even when India brought in the short third and square point fielders.
For Indian batters, much to everyone’s surprise, countering the spin threat wasn’t aplomb as they went in with heavy noise into the second Test. New Zealand used variety of combinations to make the Indian batters surrender before them. The ball was skidded, pitched flatter and quicker on varying lengths, and straightened up at times, to trouble the hosts.
Left-arm spinner Mithcell Santner, who hadn’t picked a single five-wicket haul in 28 Tests before this game, turned out the wrecker-in-chief for Rohit and his men with back-to-back fifers. Glenn Phillips complemented him with some crucial dismissals, the most important of them was Rishabh Pant’s in the first innings when the latter was tempted to unleash the big hit only to see his stumps being rattled.
“There is a misconception that India are good at playing spin. They are like everyone else. Gone are the days of Sachin, Ganguly, or Dravid. Now, they are the same as everyone else. As soon as a good spinner comes in, they are in trouble. We saw that in the IPL, as soon as the ball started to spin, they were in trouble and started complaining,” former New Zealand fast bowler Simon Doull said on Sports18 on Day 2 of the second Test.
